


Misplaced

by allthatshunted



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Multi, Teen Romance, United Kingdom
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-21
Updated: 2019-05-21
Packaged: 2020-03-09 01:59:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 7,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18907204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allthatshunted/pseuds/allthatshunted
Summary: Six people. Two teams. One hell of a 'Capture the Flag' game.It's the last year of high school and Clary just can't wait to escape. Jace is the new transfer student, who just moved from America to the UK.By a chance meeting, and a few fortunate circumstances, Clary and Jace, along with Izzy, Alec and Magnus, are stuck together in the only elective class left available...Bootcamp.Under the guidance of Simon, the team trains to beat Cape East, the reigning school of the capture the flag tournament. But with a lot of different personalities, comes a lot of different emotions.A lot of different emotions that can sometimes make you feel misplaced.- A Shadowhunter Fanfiction





	1. Chapter 1

I was back here. Again. For another entire year. Even though it’s my last year in this hell hole – finally – I didn’t want to be here. I mean who would? York Institute is the place you go to be converted into a slave for the government. Stupid high school. Stupid York Institute. Stupid, everything.  
I glanced over the paper in my hand, the word “timetable” written in bold at the top. The subjects were obviously no fun. Maths, English, History, blah, blah, blah. I hate the fact that I have to sit through another year of boring history classes and deal with more of these lifeless overly happy people.  
“Ahh the smell of fresh meat” my adopted brother says as he sniffs the air looking towards the male freshmen. I roll my eyes at his antics and continue walking on. “Magnus, you realise you only have one more year left to torture these boys” I say looking at his cat winged eyeliner that is highlighting his golden eyes. I was always so jealous of his perfect make-up and perfect outfits. Not that I would ever tell him.  
“Clary, it’s your last year, at least try to have some fun” he said while grabbing my shoulders. I roll my eyes at him as I pull myself away from his grip colliding straight into a golden-haired boy, making us both fall to the floor, my bag flying through the air. I groaned, slowly standing up to face the boy in front of me. He was beautiful. His large blue eyes staring back at me. I notice all his perfect features. I step toward him as I notice a smirk forming on his lips. And it was then I realise that neither of us had said anything. I shook myself from this stupor and begin to glare at him.  
“Are you going to apologise?” I snap as I cross my arms over my chest. I watch as his smirk begins to fade into confusion.  
“Oh uh…I’m sorry, but you bumped into me” He mumbles, his American accent clashing with the British voices in the air. He’s not from around here? I begin to feel my cheeks going red as my anger begins to boil over.  
“Yeah, but you were in my way” I bend down to pick up my bag as all my contents are strewn all over the floor. Ugh. “Great! Look what you’ve done to my notebook, it’s ruined” The pen must have broken after impact and leaked everywhere.  
“Look, I’m really sorry. Can I get you a new one?” He says biting his lip.  
“No! You can’t replace this, unless you can redraw all my art assignments” I hissed.  
He rubs the back of his neck, looking down at the floor. “Well, I can’t draw unless you had a book full of stick figures” He says playfully. I feel a smile coming on my lips, but I push it back down. He does not deserve my smile. He? What even is his name? Why have I never seen him before?  
“Who even are you?” I say to him, half with curiosity half with anger. He looks me in the eye again and I can’t help but stare into his beautiful blue eyes.  
“My name is Jace. I am new here, it’s actually my first day at this school, but it doesn’t seem like I’m off to a good start” He says shuffling his feet. “What’s your name?”  
“I’m Clary” I say my anger subsiding as I begin to feel bad for Jace. It wasn’t his fault, it was really mine. “Look, don’t worry about my notepad, I can fix it myself.”  
“Well, I would really love to help, or at least see you draw sometime?” He says. I feel myself begin to blush, as he stares at me. My gaze locked with his own and then I noticed the small green specs in his eyes mixing with the ocean blue. We stare at each other for what seems like hours. We could have been there forever, if it wasn’t for a cough snapping me back to reality.  
“Ahem”  
I hear the sound come from Magnus. “Oh, this is my brother, Magnus”. I watch as the confusion forms across Jace’s features as he looks from me to Magnus and back again, clearly noticing the vast difference in our appearances. My bright orange hair clashing with my pale skin, versus Magnus’s tanned skin and almond shaped eyes . I hear Magnus laugh.  
“Well our darling girl Clary here,” he begins as I glare at him, already knowing what he’s going to say next, “is adopted into my family. Which you could probably tell by her not having any of my perfect features”. I half smile and half roll my eyes, as I watch Magnus’s over the top display, proudly presenting himself in front of Jace.  
“Well she definitely got perfect features from somewhere” Jace says quickly. Magnus and I both mirroring a shocked expression at Jace’s words. “Oh, uh, yeah, uh, nice to meet you Magnus” he laughs awkwardly, while rubbing the back of his neck.  
The bell sounds loudly through the now, seemingly empty hallways. Its shrill tone cutting through the awkward tension that filled the air.  
“Guess it’s time we should get to class, don’t you think Clary?” Magnus grabs me by the hand, beginning to pull me away.  
“Yeah, I really should get going too. I don’t want to be late on my first day” Jace replies. “Guess I’ll see you around?”  
“Yeah, come have lunch with us!” Magnus shouts back at him as we continue to walk towards class. “Maybe you can watch her draw!”  
I elbow my brother in the stomach, quickly shutting him up. “Just quit it, will you” I hiss at Magnus, turning my head back towards Jace giving him a small wave goodbye, before watching him turn around and head down the opposite end of the hall.  
Magnus laughs beside me.  
“What?” I ask.  
“If you don’t get any of that, I will”  
I continue looking straight, as my brother’s voice begins to fade into the background as I think about the golden-haired boy I just met.


	2. Chapter 2

Mr Raymond was droning on, and on, and on about the emperors of Rome and how one of them called Nero had serious mum issues.  
Honestly, it was the first hour of school, first hour of class, and I was already bored. I sighed, looking down to my notebook in front of me, which was currently filled with little squiggles and doodles of who knows what.  
“And that will be all for today” Mr Raymond said, turning off the presentation before grabbing a stack of papers from his desk and passing them around. “For homework, you’ll need to complete the discussion questions on this paper by Friday. Once you have the homework, you may leave”.  
I snatched a copy of the paper from the guy in front of me, before shoving it in my bag and walking out of the room. I was almost at the door to me next class, before someone looped their arm through mine.  
“Hey, hey, hey” said Izzy, my best friend of 9 years. “Looks like we’ve got English together. Thank god. I didn’t want to have to put up with Miss Jones all by myself”. We walked into the classroom, picking seats next to each other on the four-seater desks.  
I swear, Izzy was the reason I’ve survived this long in high school. She’s literally the only person I can stand to be around – except sometimes my brother – in this sea of never-ending stupidity. She was kind of nerdy, but in that hard-working way, a way in which you knew she was going to get into one of those elite universities.  
“Hi again” I hear that familiar American accent. It’s Jace. I turn to face his familiar smile and golden hair. I feel my stomach tighten as he stands over me. “Is this seat taken?” he says again. I stare at his blue eyes not finding any words, I don’t know why, but I was in a trance, he has something over me. I did not like it one bit.  
“Ahh… Clary” Izzy says whilst simultaneously tapping me lightly on the forehead “are you in there? He is asking you a question?”  
“Oh, uhm, yeah, sorry. No, this seat isn’t taken” I say to Jace, before quickly turning away so he didn’t see my embarrassment light up my cheeks. I heard him chuckle as he took the seat next to me, ushering someone over.  
“Hey Simon, there’s a spare seat over here” Jace said as the tall, brown-haired boy came and sat down near us.  
“Hey” Simon said.  
“Hey Simon,” Izzy began, “nice to see you again”.  
“Yeah, you too” Simon smiled back at her. I noticed that her cheeks began to redden, which always happened when we were in Simon’s presence.  
“How do you guys know each other?” I asked seemingly uninterested.  
“Well Jace moved in right next door to me, and May his auntie introduced us, I have known May my entire life, so she thought it might be nice for Jace to know someone before starting a new school” Simon said while taking the outer seat next to Izzy. I look at Jace curious why he is living with his auntie but don’t question it. “Anyway, how was your trip Izzy?” Simon continues.  
“Oh, you remember that?” I hear Izzy say as their conversation fades into the background when Jace accidently touches my hand.  
“Do you have a spare pencil?” Jace asked me. “I only brought pens with me”  
“Yeah, I do actually, Miss Jones is very serious about being able to edit your essays” I open my pencil case and search through the large variety of options and hand Jace the best one.  
“Wow, that’s a lot of art supplies” He says whilst seeming genuinely interested. I smile back at him as I begin to answer before I hear quite whispers come from the collection of “mean girls” at the front.  
Why is he talking to her?  
Her fashion is terrible?  
Does she even know how to apply eyeliner?  
Jace doesn’t seem to notice as he leans in closer waiting for my answer. “Well you know I draw, so that’s what there for” I say quite blunt, as my thoughts keep repeating what the girls at the front said about me. I am nowhere close to his type. I am not a girl he would ever be interested in. Izzy would be his type, her perfect smile, her perfect hair and her perfect grades. She has always been the prettiest out of the two of us. Or maybe it’s because she tries to be nice to people. I hear my subconscious say as I push her back.  
“What class do you have after lunch?” I hear Simon say as I tune into Izzy and his conversation.  
“I have boot camp training after this. I was travelling during subject selection, so Alec and I were put into anything available. I don’t think I will be any good at it.” Izzy responds.  
“Oh, well I am actually running that course, it’s my first time as sergeant” Simon replies. “I promise to get your through the course with flying colours”.  
Izzy smiles and nods at him. “That would be really great. I was nervous I wouldn’t know anyone but Alec and Clary”  
“Wait you’re doing Boot Camp too, Clary?” Jace begins “I got roped in by Simon, but if you’re in, it might be fun after all”  
“Yeah, I am, I never hand in my selection slips. Magnus is doing it too, he thought he would meet some more attractive boys.”  
“Like Alec?” Izzy whispers to me, making sure the boys don’t hear.  
“Precisely” I whisper back, causing us both to laugh, leaving the boys with confused expressions.  
“Okay class” Miss Jones says, standing from behind her desk, “Let’s begin today’s lesson”.


	3. Chapter 3

“Clary, why the long face, it’s your favourite class of the day…Lunch!” Magnus laughs to Izzy, as Alec rolls his eyes.   
“Yeah Clary, you’re acting more angsty than usual” Alec says, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow, his brown eyes challenging me to answer.   
“No, I’m not” I snap, rolling my eyes in exasperation. “I’m just thinking”.  
“Don’t tell me,” Magnus begins, “you’re thinking about a certain tall, blonde boy, aren’t you?”  
“Oh, you mean Jace?” says Izzy, a smile spreading across her face. “Judging from English class earlier, Clary is totally into him. Who wouldn’t be? He’s gorgeous”.  
“Agreed” Magnus smirks. I notice Alec’s shoulder’s tense from beside me, as he turns his head to the side with a frown. I can only imagine what Alec is going through, choosing to hide who is really is and how he feels about Magnus. I tell my subconscious to shut up and mind her goddam business, as I flick open my notepad to my latest sketch. I continue to trace contained in my own art bubble, completely oblivious to the world.   
“Just in time” Magnus ensures his voice pulls me from my trance “as promised, you get to watch Clary draw.” My eyes shoot up from my drawing as they lock with Jace’s gaze. I notice he smiles as he looks towards the floor, a slight blush colouring his cheeks.   
“Uh, I guess” Jace stammers “does the offer for lunch still stand?”  
“Offfff courseee” Magnus sings, pointing a finger adorned with rings in my direction “there’s a spot next to our dear Clary”   
“Great! I also asked Simon to join us, if that’s alright? Jace asks.  
“Yes! That’s completely fine” I hear Izzy quickly respond. Simon trails not far behind Jace and plops himself in the open seat right between Magnus and Alec, directly in front of Izzy.   
“Sorry to interrupt your drawing earlier” Jace says to me quietly so only I can hear.  
“Oh, that’s alright, I kind of get lost in my own little world when I am drawing, so it was good that I was pulled out, so I can at least eat something before this ridiculous boot camp class” I say.  
“Can I see what you’re working on” Jace asks reaching towards my notepad.  
“No!” I yell snatching it up in my arms. I notice as Jace’s face turns to slightly embarrassed and hurt as everyone else’s eyes snap towards me in confusion.  
“So…Simon tells me we are all in boot camp together” Magnus says slicing through the tension drawing everyone’s attention towards him. I thank him with my eyes as he quickly winks back ensuring only I notice.   
“We what?” Alec quickly responds.  
“Yeah, in some lucky sort of way, it looks like everyone sitting at this table is in my boot camp course” Simon says happily making everyone smile excluding myself and Alec.   
“That’s not something to be happy about” I say to Simon “anything that involves physical activity is a no from me”   
“No,” Simon begins, “It’ll be fun. I promise”  
“And what do we get if you break that promise, huh?” Magnus says, winking as he nudge’s Simon’s shoulder. I instantly look towards Alec as I notice him jump up from the table and begin to storm off.   
“Wait, Alec where are you going” Izzy calls out to her brother. I look towards her with a knowing look as she shares my facial expression.   
“I have stuff to do, I will meet you at this stupid class” Alec huffs as he continues to walk away. I look back at Magnus and stare at him as he watches Alec walk away with a sad expression looming on his face. I quickly get up to follow behind Alec to try and catch up with him.   
“I will meet you all in this next class, I forgot I had to ask Alec something” I quickly say to the table.  
“Clary wait…” I hear Jace call after me, but I ignore it, continuing my chase after Alec.   
“Alec, Alec wait please, Alec” I call out to him. “Alec please…you know I can’t run”.  
“What Clary” He stops abruptly making me smash right into his back “Shit, sorry, are you okay?”  
“Yeah I’m fine” I say, “Are you okay?”.  
“Yeah why wouldn’t I be?” he says abruptly eyeing me.  
“Look, I know we aren’t the best of friends and I know I am your sisters’ best friend, but I can tell your hurting and you don’t need to hide it” I respond.  
“What exactly do you think I’m hiding?” He glares at me, stepping closer toward me, as if to warn me.  
“You’re hiding…ugh you’re hiding your feelings…you know, for Magnus” I say feeling as though a weight has been lifted from my shoulders.   
I watch as his eyes flash and face begins to contort in anger “WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?” he yells at me as he grabs my shirt in his fist pulling me toward him.  
“Alec, please, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to make you mad. I just don’t want you to be sad anymore” I feel water start to drip down my cheeks. I’m crying. I never cry.  
“Clary, oh my god…” He unclenches my shirt, finally realising what he just did. “Sor…You know what, just…mind your own business” he finishes saying as he runs his hand through his hair in frustration. He turns on his heels and begins to storm in the opposite direction.  
“I just want you to be happy” I call after him making him stop frozen in his place.  
“We don’t always get what we want, Clary” He says staring right into my water filled eyes before turning back and disappearing into the sea of bodies.


	4. Chapter 4

“What happened with Alec?” Izzy asks as she sits down next to me on the hard gymnasium floors. “…Wait, Clary, have you been crying?”  
“Alec and I had a fight. But don’t worry about it, it’s fine now” I respond, “wait how can you even tell that I’ve been crying? I made sure my eyes weren’t even red before coming to class”.  
“Best friends just know” she replies, as she playfully bumps my shoulder with hers, forcing a smile to form on my face, as I lean in toward her as she hugs me.   
“Oh, shit, I just realised I left my notepad and things at the table as I chased after your darn brother” I say. “Did you by get them by any chance?”  
“No, I didn’t, but you know who did?” Izzy winks, as she nods her head towards the group of boys now entering the gym.   
“Don’t tell me, it was Jace” I say as he spots the two of us and begins to walk over.   
“Mhmmm” Izzy says, showing off her perfect teeth with a wide smile.   
The blonde-haired boy sits down next to me, a smile playing along his lips. He opened his mouth to say something before Simon cut him off.  
“Well, now that everyone is here, boot camp can officially begin” he says as he claps his hands. “So basically, I’ll just go over what’s going to happen in this class and during the year, then at the end we can do some basic team activities for now. So, any questions before I jump right in?”  
“Um, yes,” Magnus begins, as he plays with a string from one of his bracelets, “When do we get to go home?”  
“Ha, ha, very funny” says Simon, rolling his eyes. “Anyway, so, guess I’ll start”.  
I lean my head on Izzy’s shoulder, preparing myself to hear the long boring spiel Simon was about to give us. Really, I had no interest.   
“So basically, Boot Camp consists of all of us doing team building activities, almost like army drills, but not that extensive,” Simon says. “So, we will be doing things such as playing rugby, swimming one week and obviously army drills. We’ll obviously all have our different strengths, and the purposes of these exercises is to recognise these strengths and use them to our advantage”.  
“Use them to our advantage for what exactly?” Alec asks, his arms crossed over his chest and his brow furrowed.  
“Well,” Simon begins, rather enthusiastically, “at the end of the year, we are going to compete in a mass cross-school tournament of capture the flag”.   
“Sounds like fun” I said, rolling my eyes. No, it did not sound like fun. It sounded like a lot of effort, going in to play a little kid’s game. At least that’s what I thought anyway.   
“Come on Clary,” said Izzy, “don’t be so harsh”.  
“Yeah, yeah, whatever” I muttered as Simon cleared his throat.   
“So basically, while we do these activities, I will be your Sergeant, and you guys will be my soldiers”  
“Why all the army references?” Magnus asked, clearly only partially interest in what was going on.  
“Because it’s called Bootcamp. Guys, please, just bear with me” says Simon, running a hand through his hair in exasperation. “Every year, there is always one school that wins, and that school is Cape East”.  
“Those bastards?” Alec said, scrambling to his feet. He’d always had a thing against the people from Cape East after they completely ruined his car, because Alec had sent their star soccer player limping off the field. “You know what?” Alec began, “I’m in”.   
“What do we get if we win?” Jace’s deep voice asks from beside me.   
“Good question” Simon answers, “A cool trophy, bragging rights, and we also get to throw a party”.  
“Hmmm, you said party. I am in” Magnus says, getting up to stand beside Alec.   
“What the hell? Same here” Jace said, joining the boys with a smile plastered on his face.   
“Girls?” Simon asks, turning towards us. Izzy merely shrugs, and gets to her feet like everyone else, while I remain sitting on the cold, wooden floor.  
“It actually sounds like a lot of fun,” Izzy says, smiling wide in Simon’s direction, “as long as it doesn’t really affect my studying, since I’m doing the extension classes this year”.  
“Oh my god” Alec rolls his eyes, “have you always been such a nerd?”  
Izzy flips him off and rolls her eyes, mimicking her twin, before Simon speaks again.   
“Don’t worry Izzy, I’m in the extension classes too, so I can always help you study” he gives her a small grin, causing a blush to rise on her cheeks.   
Study dates! I mouth to her. Cute. She sends me a thumbs up in response.   
“Clary?” Simon asks, causing five pairs of eyes to turn and stare at me. Slowly I get to my feet, before bringing a hand to my forehead in mock salute.   
“Whatever you say, Captain Lewis”  
“That’s Sergeant Lewis to you,” Simon laughs. “And my first order is a two kilometre run”. Our collective groans sounded through the gym. “Come on guys. Training begins now”.


	5. Chapter 5

“That is not training” I heaved, struggling to pull air into my lungs, “that’s called torture”.  
“Remind me why we agreed to do this again?” Jace asked, his face all red from the exercise, with sweat beading on his forehead.   
“Guys,” Simon began, “it’s not that bad”.   
“Wasn’t this meant to be the easy session? You know, to ease us into the hardcore stuff?” Magnus asked, his eyeliner beginning to smudge around the corner of his eyes.  
“Hey uhh Magnus…you have a bit of something, leaking down your eye…no not the right, the left...oh don’t worry” Alec said as he reached his hand towards Magnus’s face to wipe away the leaking eyeliner. I watched as Magnus flinched under Alec’s hand, before accepting his touch. They seemed calm for a minute, as if they were the only two people, before Alec coughed bringing his hand away quickly and turning around, ensuring not to bring attention towards his flushed cheeks.  
“Uhh thanks Alec…I appreciate it” Magnus said so formally, causing me to look twice to make sure it was really him speaking.   
“You can just leave me here, to die, I don’t think I can go on anymore” Izzy said.   
“Are you alright? I can get you water? I can take you to the nurse if you’re feeling dehydrated” Simon quickly asked, placing his hand against her forehead to check if she was okay.  
Magnus and I suddenly looked towards one another sharing a common thought. We smiled. The game was about to begin. “Oh, Izzy you look so, so terrible, you really must see the nurse” Magnus said in his most dramatic voice.  
“Yeah, Simon, you really should take her. I have never seen her like this, and she’s my best friend, so I would know” I said just as dramatic. I watch as worry fills Simon’s eyes before quickly turning back towards Izzy. It was then that Alec and Jace caught on.  
“Yeah man, you better take her, she might even need to be carried?” Jace said to Simon with a nod of his head in Izzy’s direction.  
“Yeah just take her” Alec said, his eyes rolling slightly. He’s such a smart ass.   
“Okay, I’ll take you. Izzy, trust me, you’re going to be okay” Simon begins to say as he wraps his arms around her, pulling her towards his chest – bridal style.   
“No, no, I’m okay, seriously, this is really not necessary” Izzy said, trying her best to convince Simon.  
“No” the rest of us said in unison.   
“Enough, you just need to rest…” Simon looked toward Izzy “I’ve got you now.” I watched as Izzy eyes went wide as she stared up at Simon. He began to walk toward the exit when Izzy turned her face towards us with a warning glare. ‘I hate you all’ she mouths, causing the four of us left to begin to laugh hysterically.   
I watch as Simon’s shoulders tense as he turns back around with Izzy still in his arms. “What’s going on? Why are you all laughing? Izzy is hurt” he says with attitude. Or at least with the only attitude he can muster up.   
“It was a joke” Izzy says softly gazing up at Simon “the group was just trying to make a joke, and you and I were the centre of it”.  
“Oh, so you’re okay?” Simon says towards Izzy, still a bit unsure.  
“Yeah, well I mean, I am so tired from whatever that class was, but I am not actually dying” Izzy says in response.  
“Right, okay well as long as you’re alright” He says.  
“I’m good. I promise” She says.  
“Okay. Cool!” Simon replies, still holding Izzy in his arms.  
“You know you can put her down now, right?” Alec says in his brotherly tone.  
“Oh right, yes of course, sorry” Simon lowers Izzy to the floor, making sure she is standing upright.  
“Very, very funny team! But you really shouldn’t play jokes on the guy that decides the number of laps you have to run” Simon smirks at us. “Next time, all of you four will be the centre of the joke, while Izzy and I are just relaxing on the sidelines”  
“Will she be in your arms again?” I smirk as laughter comes from beside me. I turn towards the sound to see Jace clutching his stomach.   
“Oh, stop it you guys, he’s had enough” Izzy says in a protective way, as both her and Simon’s cheeks flush pink with embarrassment.   
“Well, I think that’s enough for today, time to get the party started?” Magnus says in a matter-of-fact way.  
“Party? What party?” Jace asks curiously.   
“Uhh, I’m surprised you haven’t heard of it, as Magnus says, it’s the most talked about party of the year” Alec chuckles as Magnus swats him across the shoulder.  
“It’s my start of the year celebration party” Magnus says, as he ignores Alec, Izzy and I mimicking his flailing jazz hands. “You’re obviously invited, the entire year is”.  
“Don’t you mean the entire school Magnus? Or do you forget how much I have to clean up after these things” I say to Magnus as I feel Izzy elbow me in the arm, “Oh sorry, I mean Izzy and I”.  
“Oh stop it, you lot always have fun” Magnus says, brushing us off with his hand.   
“Don’t worry Jace, you can just come with me” says Simon, nodding in Jace’s direction.   
“Oh?” Jace begins, “I didn’t really see you as the party type”.  
“Well it is the party of the year” Simon jokes.   
“Well the party of the year can’t begin until this goddamn class ends” Alec pipes up, looking towards Simon.  
“Oh yeah, you’re right,” Simon smiles, “class dismissed”.


	6. Chapter 6

“MAGNUS” I yelled, sticking my head outside my bedroom door, “I NEED HELP”. Not even a second later I hear loud footsteps sounding down the hall.   
“WHAT? WHAT IS IT? WHAT IS IT?” he says throwing the bedroom door wide open.   
“What the hell are you are doing?” I say taking in his frazzled appearance.   
“What do mean? You were yelling for help?” he replies.   
“Yeah, for make-up help…wait is that a blow-dryer?” I laugh.   
“Yeah, I thought you were being attacked by the way you were screaming” he says.  
“And what did you think you were going to do? Blow the attacker away?” I laugh again.   
“Well if you must know, I am very good at blowing” he winks, as he lifts his weapon of choice, and blows air at the top of the hair dryer’s nozzle, causing us both to laugh. “But on a serious note…did I hear you correctly? Did you say make-up?”  
His questioning gaze looking me up and down.   
“Wait. You look really, nice. Like super girly, it suits you” he says with a smile.   
“Yeah, I wanted to try something new” I say.   
“But why? You love your ‘rebel-without-a-cause’ look,” he says. I merely shrug my shoulders at his words. “Oh, it’s for Jace right?”  
“Is it that obvious?” I ask, “Gosh, this was stupid. Maybe I should just change”.   
“No. no time now. You look great, but I just want to make sure you don’t change for anyone, because I love who you are and so should you” Magnus says to me, as I scrunch my nose, holding back tears. “Anyways, enough of this weird sibling bonding. Time to get your make-up started before everyone arrives”.   
…

“Oh my god! You look gorgeous!” Izzy says as her and Alec walk inside, drinks in tow.   
“Thanks Izzy” I say, grabbing one of the cartons of beers and heading towards the kitchen which was filled with numerous metal buckets full of ice. “You can put the rest of the drinks in the buckets”.  
“Where’s your brother?” Alec asks as he finishes unpacking the drinks. “Still fixing his hair?”  
“I’m right here if you must know” Magnus says appearing in the kitchen doorway. “And my hair didn’t take that long”.   
“This time” Alec smiled as he rolled his eyes. “You look…extravagant”. And Magnus most certainly did, with gold glitter surrounding his eyes, numerous jewelled rings adorning his fingers and his outfit obviously one of his own creations. “Fashion tech is paying off, huh?”  
“Yes, it is,” Magnus smiled, as he twirled around in a small circle. “Maybe you should let me dress you sometime. Or undress you”. Alec’s eyes looked like they were going to pop out of his head as he basically choked on air at Magnus’ words. “Only joking, sweetheart. You really should get my sense of humour by now”.   
Alec merely nodded, before muttering something under his breath and heading into the loungeroom. Magnus turned towards Izzy and I, before grabbing his phone and selecting a song that began blasting through numerous speakers around the house. “Time to get this party started huh?”  
“Definitely” Izzy replied. Not even twenty minutes later, the house was packed. Almost everyone was drinking, and many were on the dancefloor grinding on each other. I walked into the kitchen, grabbing a water bottle from the fridge, before returning to the loungeroom and sitting down next to Magnus in the free spot on the couch.   
“There’s a lot more people tonight than last year” I practically yelled at Magnus over the noise.   
“Yeah! The party is in full swing now” he yells back, a smile plastered on his face.   
“I swear Magnus, you talk like you were born a century ago” I say. Magnus shrugs at me before turning to the girl on his other side and beginning to talk. The doorbell then sounds throughout the house, and I get up and walk towards the front door. I open the door to be greeted with a certain blond boy and his friend.   
“Hi Clary, party looks awesome” Simon begins, giving me a hug as he enters the house, before he spots Izzy and makes his way over all too eagerly. I smile and shake my head.  
“Those two better get together one way or another, cause he’s crazy about her you know” Jace says, reminding me of his presence.   
“I mean, it’s not like it isn’t obvious” I say as I gesture to our friends, as he steps inside.   
“You look great” Jace says, a smile forming on his beautiful features. Gosh, his American accent has got me giddy. Wait, Clary, what is wrong with you? Ugh, giddy? Where do you come up with this stuff?  
“Thanks. You do too, I guess” I reply, trying to get my stupid feelings to shut up. “Okay, so dancefloor is in the loungeroom, and drinks are in the kitchen. You can use the pool, but please don’t leave bottles in it”.   
“How’d you get all the alcohol” Jace asks curiously, “Don’t you have to be twenty-one to be able to score at least this much?”  
“Mate, drinking age in the UK is eighteen” I say, rolling my eyes, “most of the people that bought drinks are eighteen already so we were able to score more than last year. Anyways, enjoy the party”. I begin to walk off, almost making it back into the loungeroom before I feel his hand grab mine.   
“Clary, wait” he begins, letting go of my hand, now cold from the loss of his warm touch, before pulling my art stuff out of the bag that was slung on his shoulder. “You left these at lunch today and I forgot to give them back at school, so here”.   
“Oh. Great. Thanks.” I say, before walking the short distance to the cupboard near the stairs and slipping them inside the top drawer. I then walk back to the loungeroom, stoping at the foot of the dancefloor where couples were now dancing to a slow song.   
I felt Jace come to stand beside me and I looked up at him, his blue gaze causing me to become entranced. “Um, so, want to dance?” he asked nervousness seeping into his voice as he raised an eyebrow.   
Come on Clary. You can give this gorgeous boy at least one dance.   
“Oh, uh, sure” I said, giving him a small smile. “Let’s dance”.


	7. Chapter 7

“So, do you guys often throw parties like this? Or is this like a one off?” Jace asks we sway on the make-shift dancefloor, my arms circling his neck.   
“No. Parties like this happen quite often from your fellow students of York Institute,” I begin, “but Magnus likes to throw the first one to apparently ‘start the year off right’ as he says”.  
Jace simply nods, his blue eyes looking down at me from his towering height. “You don’t really come across as a party-girl”.  
“What do I come across as, hmmm?” I ask raising my eyebrow, daring him to answer.   
“Well, uh, I mean,” Jace stutters, unable to string words together. “You come across as a nice person”.  
I laugh. “Come on Jace, we both know you’re lying. Tell me the truth”. I feel Jace hesitate, his shoulders tightening as he looks everywhere but at me.   
“Well, you come across as kind of abrupt. Like you don’t want to open up because that would mean you’d have to let someone new in” he says, grimacing at his words. My joking smile falters for barely a second before I plastered it back on my face.   
“Well, I mean, look at the people we go to school with,” I say, shrugging my shoulders at my attempt of nonchalance, trying not to let him know easily he sussed me out. “Can’t trust them”.   
“Not even me?” he asks curiously, his eyes holding my own hostage.   
“I barely know you” I say, bringing my arms back down and stepping away as the slow song finishes.   
“Well how about we change that?” he says, tilting his head slightly, his blue eyes full of hope.   
“I –”  
A loud crash sounds throughout the room, thankfully cutting me off from answering Jace. I push through the crowd, hoping I won’t find anything broken or shattered otherwise Magnus and I would be in some serious trouble.   
“What’s going on?” I ask as I come to the front of the small crowd of semi-sober people gathered around a dazed – and obviously super drunk – Alec.   
“Sooooorrrrryyy. I thiiiink I slipped” Alec smiles goofily up at me from his spot on the floor.   
“Alright, alright. Nothing to see here, he’s fine” I say, waving away the crowd. I turn back to Alec, bending down to grab him and help him into a standing position. “Are you okay? I’ve never seen you this drunk”.  
“I think sooooo” Alec slurs, swaying to the side.   
“Let me go get Magnus,” I say as I use all my strength to pull this giant towards one of the free chairs outside.  
“Noooo! I don’t wanna see him!” Alec drunkenly yells. “It’s his fault!”  
“What’s his fault?” I ask.  
“He was making out with some guy” Alec says, crossing his arms over his chest, with the same facial expression of a five year-old who didn’t get the toy they wanted.   
“Aw Alec,” I say, kneeling down in front of him. “You need to tell him how you feel one of these days”.  
“One of these days” Alec replies, furrowing his eyebrows.   
“I’m still going to get Magnus though,” I begin, “he’ll be able to help more than me”.  
“Fine” Alec mumbles, his black hair falling into his eyes. On that note, I stand up and head back inside, pushing past everyone until I spot my brother making out on the couch.   
“Magnus,” I say, tapping him on the shoulder to grab his attention.   
“What now Clary?” he asks, tearing himself away from his current commitment briefly. “I’m in the middle of something if you can’t see?”  
I roll my eyes, knowing that he’d be on his feet in a second once he heard what I had to say. “It’s Alec. He’s wasted, and currently sitting on a chair outside. I’ve never seen him this drunk before and I’m worried he might hurt himself”.  
True to my word, Magnus tore himself away from the guy he was currently with, storming past everyone to head outside, determination in his gaze. I followed him outside, not even a moment later, to find him kneeling down in front of Alec, cupping his face to force Alec to look at him.   
“Alec, Alec, Alec” Magnus said with a smile and a slight shake of his head. “usually it’s the other way around. Isn’t it?”   
“More or less” Alec replies, his blue eyes wide and glued to Magnus’.   
“Tell me why you’re so drunk” Magnus says, a concerned look on his face.   
Alec merely shrugs, “Because I can”.  
“Fair enough,” Magnus says with a smile, before bringing his hands down to clasp Alec’s and help him to his feet. “Well then, since you’re always the one taking care of me when I’m drunk, I think it’s time that I repaid the favour and took care of you”.   
“O-ok” Alec said, still somewhat dazed, but which could probably be related to his close proximity to Magnus who still had his hand intertwined with his own. I watched as Magnus walked off, Alec in tow, before sitting down with a sigh.   
“So,” a voice began, “you never answered my question”. I looked up at Jace who was leaning against the outside wall, his short, blond hair falling slightly in his blue eyes.   
“What was the question?” I said, as Jace pulled up a plastic chair to sit down beside me.   
“Well, you said that you barely know me. So, I asked, how about we change that?” he replied, leaning closer towards me. My heart thudded in my chest at the close proximity.   
“Well…” I trailed off, my gaze flicking to his questioning one, “…sure. Why not?”  
"How about we start after school tomorrow?"  
"I think I can work with that," I say.   
“Sounds good” he smiled.   
“Sounds good”.


	8. Chapter 8

“So, where do you want to go?” Jace asks as we walk outside of the school gates.   
“I don’t know? You’re the one that wanted to get to know each other remember?” I say as I dodge the students running towards the buses, hurrying to get home after the long school day.   
“That’s true,” Jace began, “but is there something you like to do after school? Or someplace that you like to go?”  
“Hmmm, not really” I say, looking over at him as we walk along the footpath. “Actually, wait, are you hungry?”  
“A little” he replied with a shrug.   
“Then I know the perfect place. Follow me” I say as I turn left once we reach the end of the street. We walk until we reach a small café, renowned for its burgers. “How’s a hamburger sounding right now?”  
“Pretty good actually” Jace says, shooting me a smile.   
I push open the front door, the smell of coffee and food instantly reaching my nose. I hear a low growling sound, instantly looking over at Jace who has a slightly embarrassed look on his face.   
“I guess you could say I’m starving?” he says as we take a seat directly opposite one another, at one of the two-person tables.   
“I could say the same” I say with a nod, picking up the menu to browse the drink options. I already know what I’m going to order since it’s Izzy and I’s favourite place to eat. But I wasn’t here with Izzy, I was here with Jace.   
And I didn’t know how to act.   
Somehow this blond-haired, blue-eyed boy had gotten under my skin, and I didn’t know if I liked it or not. He was giving me mixed feelings. I hate mixed feelings.   
“Are you ready to order?” I ask him, breaking the silence that had fallen over the table.   
“I guess so,” he responds. Jace waves over one of the waiters, who quickly jots down our order, leaves and then promptly returns with two glasses and table water, before leaving once again. “So,” he begins, his blue eyes locked on mine, “tell me a bit about yourself”   
I hate that question. I thoroughly despise it.   
“Ok, ok,” he says with a laugh. Oh god, I said that out loud. Gosh, he must think I’m a weirdo. “How about a different question,” he begins, “how long have you been drawing?”  
“Most of my life. It’s one of the first things I remember doing” I say with a shrug.   
“Do you plan to apply to art school for next year?” he asks.   
“I’m thinking about it. Not too sure. There’s nothing really in my area”.   
Jace nods, sitting back in his chair. “So what would you do if you didn’t do art?”  
“I don’t know,” I say blatantly. I’ve actually never given this much thought, I realise. “Guess I’ll have to figure it out soon. But anyway, enough of this interrogation. Your turn”.  
“Well what do you want to know?” Jace asks as another waiter brings our food to the table.   
“Why the UK?”  
“Because my aunty lives here, and plus it’s a good school I guess” Jace shrugs, before taking a bite from his burger.   
“What about your plans for university?” I ask, picking up my burger. I notice the confused look on his face. “Oh, I guess you’d call it college in America? What do you want to get into?”  
“I’ve been thinking of applying for a commerce degree but I’m not too sure. I’m also thinking to maybe a degree in some sort of science?”  
“Ah, a smart one” I say sarcastically, earning a clipped laugh from Jace.   
“Not necessarily a smart one, just smart enough to know the marks I need to get and do all I can to get them. I mean, it’s been a whole dream to either own my own business one day, or find the next ground-breaking research in some field. I don’t know…I guess I’ve always wanted to do something that would make my parents proud”.   
“What are your parents like?” I ask, an eyebrow raised.   
“Were…” Jace says.   
“I’m sorry? I don’t…”  
“What were my parents like?” Jace says solemnly, his eyes locking with mine, and I pause. “They passed away two months ago. Car crash. Drunk driver. He survived”.   
How am I supposed to respond to that? I mean I understand parental loss, but ours are different. Mine’s more abandonment, but his is actual loss…  
“So that’s why you moved to the UK,” I say quietly. Jace nods.   
“That’s why”. I nod back. The conversation turning silent while we finish our food.   
After a while, I decide to break the silence that had fallen over the table. “I like reading,” I begin, Jace’s eyes instantly shooting up to meet mine, “anything I can get my hands on really. I would love to learn guitar but my hand coordination for anything other than drawing or writing is hopeless. My lesser known hobbies are singing Beyoncé songs with my brother and watching a lot of football, which you would know as soccer”.   
I see Jace’s previously solemn expression slowly break as a smile forms across his features. “Singing Beyoncé songs and watching soccer, huh?”.   
“If you tell anyone, I will end you” I say in my most threatening, yet light-hearted voice. Jace laughs, raising both hands in surrender.   
“Ok, noted” he says, smiling. I smile back. His eyes wander around the café until they land back on me. “Want to get out of here?” he asks.   
I nod. We stand up and grab our bags, before paying for our meal and walking outside.   
“Where are we going?” I ask.   
Jace grabs my hand in his, causing my heart to skip a beat as he smiles. “Just follow me”.


End file.
